Speritanian
SPAIR•ih•TAN•ee•unn – An English representation, called Ingselm in their native language. One of the races of the Eastern Continent, and the most numerous people in the world. They hail from the country of Speritan. Also the English adaptation of their native language, which they call Saletose Speritan. They are said to have descended from bears. They have bright red-hued skin, indigo hair which can be wavy to curly, close- and deep-set black eyes, typically heavy browns (“unibrows” are common), broad, flat noses and thick, wide lips. Their musculature is among the most pronounced and rippled in the world, matched only by the Koholeans, and they are an extremely strong race (able to lift up to two tonnes). The men grown to a height of 6’0” to 6’5” and the women are between 5’7” and 6’0”. They are an extremely religious race. Speritanians The Speritanians are one of the first Five Clans of the Üaharte and descended from a bear-like creature called a ballus. Ballus have further evolved as our mammoths did to elephants, into a few smaller species, namely the banallus, bandusas and possibly the Tirivahni bears. The Speritanians have retained the ropey, thick musculature and toughness of their ballus ancestry. They also retained the ballus' love of moist, damp or rainy climates, possibly due to the flammable nature of their blood. While 'civilized' Speritanians are fairly smooth-skinned, the 'hethen' Speritanians of the wilds, swamps and western reaches of the country are still quite hairy, especially along the arms and legs, chest and even back. Appearance: Speritanians are a striking and often imposing race with their stark bold colouration of firetruck red skin and indigo hair. At a distance their red skin can almost look purple from the amount of thick curly body hair they have, though in many of the major cities, the fashion dictates that any exposed skin (such as the backs of hands or forearms) be shaved, and that beards on their men - while often worn long - be trimmed into smooth lines where the beard meets the skin of the cheeks or lips. Unibrows are common on both men and women and there have been periods in history where shaving or otherwise shaping the eyebrows into separate entities has been in fashion. Their head hair is rarely straight, but thick, luxurious and glossy. Because of its natural curl and volume, it is often kept braided for maintenance - including braiding or beading lengths of a man's beard to keep it from matting. Oils, waxes and greases are used to slick back the hair from the face, as well as for stiffening and shaping the elaborate knots of braids and shape that are achieved in women's hair fashions. Speritanian eyes are "beetle-black and brittle-bright" to quote the Suoro poet, Siemonas. They are generally smaller in the face than human eyes, set rather close together and deep set beneath prominant eyebrow mounds. This combination of small, dark and smouldering eyes in a rough-skinned, thick-boned red face makes for a distinctive visage. Unmarried women wear facial paint around the eyes, cheeks and lips in blues, whites or yellows to show that she is 'unpurchased' and available. Once married, the women's garments and style of paint changes to show that she is married (discussed below in Fashion). The physical shape of Speritanian men and women is perhaps the most starkly different of any gender comparisons of the races. The men are very top-heavy, with relatively short legs, broad shoulders, barrel-chests and often in old-age or gluttonous males huge bellies. The Speritanians have curiously small nimble feet and dextrous hands on the ends of their thick, muscular arms and legs which enables them to flip their bulk around with horrifying ease. The females, on the other hand, are extremely pear-shaped, and while they too have relatively long torsos to their short legs, their hips are very broad, with a great amount of buttock and rounded smallish shoulders with small round breasts. The females also tend to have smaller heads than the men and less lumpish facial features, though the full, pouty lips are even larger than on the men, and their jaws are a little less square. Men grow to about 5'8" to 6'6" where as the women grow from about 5'4" to 6'0". The musculature of the Speritanian physique is built for strength - almost brutishly so. Their muscle is thick, ropey, defined and bulging. On the men, this is usually accompanied with thick veiny patterns where the blood vessels are pressed out towards the surface of their thick skin. On the women, they are endowed with thick deposits of fatty tissue so the lines of muscle do not show through the skin as much, but does lend them to obesity or flabby outward appearances despite natural strength. Along with epically strong muscles groupings, the Speritanians have very broad, thick, strong bones to support their muscles. Their frames are sturdy, solid and tough, but they don't tend to heal well if broken. Fashion: Culture: Sexuality: Marriage: Marriages are arranged in Speritan by the father, or eldest living brother, or Unlce/Grandfather if the previous options are unavailable. In the rare case that no living male relative is available, a local priest may take the role of officiation. Marriages are typically made for strategic, financial, political, or social gain. Men may take as many wives as they are able to financially support. Like expensive racehorses, or valuable possessions, wives are like living dolls to be dressed, put on display, and to perform for company. In addition to wives, a Speritanian man may also take concubines. Typically,t hese are women that the man finds sexually appealing but that are barred to him from conventional marriage either because their status is of no gain to him, or because they hail from another race (interracial marriages has at all points in Speritanian history been illegal). The marriage ceremony itself is agreed upon betweent he males representing the bride and the prospective husband. This is typically a legal affair and requires a notary and at least one witness who is unaffiliated with either of the families being bound together. The bride's side will offer some form of dowry, though this is not always pecuniary in nature. At various points in history the following dowries have been legally accepted: virginity, lands and titles, financial sums (in currency, goods, treasures), various skills (including household crafts, performing arts such as music, dance or acting), sons (from a previous marriage or illegitimate father - especially desireable to sterile men), steeds, household slaves, even a single case in which a bride's brothers were prominent Valan sportsmen who were given over in contract to sweeten the deal. Once the terms have been offered by the bride's side, the husband will offer which ranking the new wife will have, with the lowest denominator being most coveted. Within a multiple-wife marriage, the first ranked wife gets the majority of the husband's time, money, affection, social status, and authority within the household. If a previous wife is out of favour, or a bride's dowry is particularly generous, a husband may choose to enter a new wife above a previous one to show her preference. Which these rankings can later change, it is usually only by hard work on the woman's part, competition with the other wives, production of a son (especially an heir), and the husband's favour. When both sides have agreed to the terms of the bond, the marriage ceremony is booked. The marriage is composed of 5 separate portions, each of which has its own purpose and social significance. The first is the Bride's Journey. This is the point when the bride and her entourage (generally the male who sold her, all of her personal household slaves, and whatever form her dowry is to take) make the journey from her old home. She will go to a convent while preparing for the marriage ceremony. Here she will be attended by nuns and be recited her liturgies and chants. A list of her sins, beneficial attributes, and full family lineage is written up. When her soul is cleansed, this lsit is sent to the Husband and acts as his cue that she is ready for him. A priest precides over the union of the new couple. At this ceremony are allowed only the man and woman who are to be married, the priest who will read the rites, and a single servant attendant to each person (typically a scribe for the priest, a slave for the wife and a Second for the man). The couple kneel on either side of an altar, with their heads lowered and their hands before their hearts in the prayer symbol of Ingir's Question (both hands curled up and pressed together with thumbs facing the practitioner). The traditional marriage cloth will be draped over both their heads like a cowl, and the opposing ends will then be lifted and placed into a bowl of holy water (that which has been collected in stone/wood in nature, boiled, sun-soaked, and airated). The priest speaks the binding cants from the holy book, then the husband is asked to produce a Stone to give to his wife (this can be a raw gem, or a faceted or cut gem set into any sort of jewellery, religious relic, or object depending on the man's station/wealth/nature). The husband recites the binding line: "Like Ingir before me, I ask this question of you..." The Stone is placed on the altar on the wife's side of the bowl. The wife is now asked to produce a Mirror to bestow on her husband as her 'answer'. This can be anything from a polished metal disc of purest gold, to a hand mirror, to a wall mirror, even a highly polished blade as per her standing and resources. She then looks at her reflection in the surface of her Mirror and recites, "I look into myself and I see the face of my husband..." She then places this mirror on the husband's side of the bowl. The Priest pronounces them Husband and Master to (1st, or whatever ranknig) Wife and Servant. The new couple reches forward and accepts their spouse's offering, the marriage cloth is lifted, they turn to face one another and they are legally married. After the couple is married they have the introduction, when the wife is brought to her new home, her possessions and dowry are transported and the wife is given her tour of the wives quarters. Each wife must have her own room, all of which must be separate from the harem. This night it is customary for the husband to lie with his new wife, and the rest of the wives are generally dismissed from the house for this one night. Once the new couple has consumated their new marriage, a celebration is held at the husband's house, in which all of their friends, social circle, allies and family are invited. At this feast and celebration, there will typically be some sort of 'manly' display, whether it is weapons play, wrestling, feats of martial prowess, strength competitions, sport hunting, riding or wagers. The men will all eat together, and the women will eat privately in the wives chambers, each member of the new marriage entertaining their own gender. The women will typically have their slaves perform for them, and depending on the relationship betweent he wives will play games, perform music or dance, work on household crafts, or lounge. Once the celebrations of each gender have concluded, and all have retired for the night, the guests all sleep over. The next day, there is a feast and performance of the wife before all of the social company. At this soiree, the two genders mingle, and after the wife's performance, any of the other women who have skills will share them for the entertainment of the crowd. Family Units: Coming of Age: Death: Education: Cuisine: Comparative Statistics: Intelligence: 7/16. Speritanians are notoriously single-minded. Once set to a task they are hard to disuade or convince of an opposing side of view. They are generally quite blunt in speech, putting emphasis on points rather than embellishment. They are extremely tied to tradition, very poor at invention, but very good at learning kinesthetically. Their memories are not great, and so they make up for it with drilling, repetition and status. Titles and previous achievements hold a great deal of weight for them, often carrying one through debt, trial or accusation when skill ought to suffice. Because of this their law and economy hangs on a few delicate threads of truth, often being overpowered by the loudest or most insistent rather than the just. Wisdom: 8/16. In Wisdom they are a little better. They feel deeply, but often have a hard time expressing themselves, especially in a culture with strict moral guidlines, arranged marriages and expectations. Women do not hold an equal status with men, regarded more as expensive and beautiful possessions than thinking persons of their own right. However, their faith in their deities - if misguided - is genuine and one of the strongest cohesive religious powers in the world. Their religion has been the cause or justification for more wars, atrocities and crimes than any other worldwide. Agility: 13/16. Speritanians are surprisingly agile. For a physically dense and impressive race, they are quick turning on their feet, able to move their bulk, muscle and strength with such speed that they create a veritable battering ram of force at full stride. Their cpomparitively small hands and feet enable them to turn on a dime, and handle more delicate instruments when otherwise they'd crush them from sheer force. Their flexibility is also quite high in their youth, and if kept, trained and honed can enable them to achieve some impressive martial arts at full adulthood. Strength: 16/16. Undeniably one of the strongest races in the world. Their muscle is dense and thick, with many layered bunches of muscle fibre, allowing them to achieve lifting 2 tons easily, and compounding this with gravity, built up speed or intense focus of some martial arts to almost 5 tons of force. Their stamina is very good - if within their natural climate of boggy marsh, swamp and deciduous rainforest. The longer they're in hotter climates or other inappropriate terrain the shorter their endurance becomes. Resistance: 16/16. Another benefit of their dense muscle structure is that they can take a great deal of blunt trauma without having the equivalent drain on their health. However, they are not as resistant to poisons, penetrating weapons, or illnesses. In fact, their blood has the curious quality of being flammable, making them highly allergic to irritants like spices, feathers, heat, certain oils etc. If a reaction is set off within the body, they can literally spontaeneously combust. Recovery: 5/16. They have perhaps the poorest recovery of any race. Once things get through their outer defenses, it is ectremely hard to rehabilitate them. Amputation, scarring, permanent sensativities and other diseases often linger after an illness. Magical healing is not very effective for them, meaning that if an ailment cannot be treated naturally or with potions, there is often nothing else that can be done. NMP: 2/6. One of the weakest magical races in the world, the Speritanians believe in magic, they just have an extremely hard time connecting with it - which may explain why their recovery and wisdom are so low. They do make a point to learning magic through schooling or tutors, but rather than making a great deal of use in casting, they use their knowledge to recognize its presence and other's use of it. More likely, they hire or enslave Tirivahni or Suoro to deal with magical things for them. Category:Speritanians Category:Races Category:Eastern Continent